Join our team and access industry-leading benefits and a company culture focused on inclusion, safety and advancing the lives of our team members. The origins of Piedmont Airlines can be traced back to 1931, when founder Richard A. Henson, an aviation pioneer and Fairchild Aircraft test pilot, began a fixed-base operation as Henson Aviation in Hagerstown, Maryland. More than thirty years later, in
1962, Henson Aviation instituted scheduled passenger service as the Hagerstown Commuter between Hagerstown and Washington National. Since that time, the Company has focused its efforts on scheduled service, and has grown into one of the nation's preeminent regional airlines. In 1967, Henson Aviation joined with the former Allegheny Airlines (now US Airways) to become the leader in forming the first "code share" affiliation that now dominates the airline industry worldwide. Operating as Allegheny Commuter, Henson Aviation purchased and operated its first turbo-prop aircraft, the Beech 99. One year later, Henson replaced Allegheny service at Salisbury, Maryland, the site of today's headquarters. A route structure to Washington DC, Philadelphia and Baltimore was developed. We continue today flying from our headquarters to Washington DC and Philadelphia. By the late 1980's, what had for years looked like insurmountable milestones began to pass by rapidly. The five millionth passenger was boarded in 1985, and boarding for 1986 alone surpassed one million. This number grew to almost two million by decade's end. With capacity growth came geographic expansion, as the airline gained a foothold in Florida. In addition to an extensive intra-Florida route structure, Henson Airlines opened an overnight maintenance facility in Jacksonville. By the end of 1987, the route structure touched 38 cities in ten states plus the Bahamas. Also, by the end of that year, the next round of corporate changes was underway. Henson Aviation's affiliation with USAir was reestablished in 1987 when Henson and Piedmont were purchased by USAir Group, Inc. Two years later, Piedmont merged into USAir and Henson planes were repainted to reflect the new identity of USAir Express. As the decade closed, Henson boasted a fleet of 33 Dash 8s and five Dash 7s and an employee population topping 1,000. The Shorts had been retired in 1989 and the Beech 99s in 1987. At the turn of the century, Piedmont was operating a fleet of 57 Dash 8's. This fleet consisted of a mix of the 100, 200, and 300 series Dash 8. The end of the 90s also saw significant growth in the customer service areas. The maintenance area experienced a significant change in that the heavy check program was moved to the Jacksonville, FL. The growth that was experienced in the late 90s caused the overall employee total to exceed more than 2600. Piedmont is continually preparing for the new challenges that await.
